A pregnant woman was killed, and four others injured after gunfire broke out Saturday at a birthday party in a south Houston park.
Click2Houston identified the woman killed as 21-year-old Autumn Vallian. Her baby did not survive the shooting.
Police responded to Margaret Jenkins Park around 1:18 a.m. after being alerted to gunfire by shot spotter technology. Upon arrival, officers located several groups of people at the park.
Investigators say that a fight between the groups escalated to gunfire. A total of five people were shot, with Vallian pronounced dead at the scene. Three other victims were transported to a hospital for treatment, and another suffered from a “graze wound,” according to Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Ernest Garcia. All four people are listed in stable condition.
Vallian’s mother, Ebony Pickett Vallian, who witnessed the shooting, told the outlet that Vallian was her “perfect child.” Now, instead of throwing her daughter a baby shower, she will be planning a funeral.
“I saw everything, just didn’t see what bullet hit my baby,” she told the outlet. “She ran to me saying mama, let’s go, they got guns! Once somebody told me my baby was hit and I got to my baby and I saw her lifeless. It was unbelievable. I just held her. Wishing that she would breathe.”
Police have identified two suspects in connection with the shooting. They have been detained at the hospital.
The investigation remains ongoing.
